Statistical effects push inflation to 59-month low of 3.54% in July

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India's consumer inflation fell sharply in July, falling to 3.54% from 5.1% in June, its lowest level in nearly five years. Food inflation also eased, falling to 5.4% from 9.4% in June.

Base effect behind the decline

The decline was mainly due to the base effect of last July, when inflation was higher at 7.4% and the food index rose 11.5%. Prices rose 1.4% month-on-month despite the overall decline, while food prices rose 2.8%.

Urban vs. rural inflation

Urban consumers experienced a sharper drop in inflation to less than 3%, while rural inflation remained higher at 4.1%. Food prices rose 5.9% in rural areas compared to 4.6% in urban areas.

Future Inflation Forecast

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the inflation forecast for the July-September quarter to 4.4%, indicating a likely rise in prices in the coming months.

IIT-Madras retains top spot in NIRF rankings for sixth year in a row

For the sixth consecutive year, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has been ranked the top academic institute in India, according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024. The rankings were announced by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Key Rankings and Categories

IIT Madras has also topped the engineering category for the ninth consecutive year. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru continued to top the universities and research categories.

IIM-Ahmedabad has been named the best management institute for the fifth year while AIIMS New Delhi retained its position as the top medical institute.

New categories and increased participation

The 2024 rankings have introduced three new categories:

- Open universities

- Skills universities

- State public universities

Participation has seen a significant increase, with 6,517 institutions submitting over 10,000 applications. The government is considering including institutions from neighboring countries in future rankings.